Lakewood man stocked up on knowledge for CNBC victory

Erin WeberStephen Weber, the winner of the $500,000 first prize in the annual "CNBC.com Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge,'' poses with his two children, Kegan "Kiki,'' 3, and Alexander, 6.

The winner of the annual "CNBC.com Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge'' is from Lakewood. Surprised? Well, nobody who knows Stephen Weber is shocked by his savvy with stocks.

"The main response from our friends is, 'Of course, he won,' '' said Weber's wife, Erin. "Steve is brilliant at finance, and he loves a challenge. He's the ultimate finance geek and macro-news junkie. He just loves it. And he loves a challenge. So, of course, he won.''

Weber, 46, was named the first-prize winner of the 12-week online contest during Monday's edition of CNBC's afternoon financial program, "Power Lunch.'' A system analyst for the Cleveland Clinic, he was handed a super-sized $500,000 check at the cable channel's New Jersey studios for emerging from this competition as the investment champion.

"Going to CNBC was like returning to the mother ship for Steve,'' Erin Weber said. "These people speak his language. He can explain the most complex concepts in the most straightforward way. And he likes finance because it is complex.''

The contest, which started Nov. 17, 2008, and concluded Feb. 2, challenged aspiring moguls to register online at CNBC.com and create five separate portfolios, each with $1 million of CNBC bucks. The rules allowed them $900,000 for trading stocks and ETFs on the NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX, plus $100,000 for trading currencies.

"The money might not have been real, but the pressure sure was,'' Weber said during a phone interview Monday evening. "You need to do all the research and stay up with every development. You get a real taste of the long hours, the pounding headaches and the knots in the stomach. Even without the real money, it's stressful, because you want to win.''

Weber, a Ravenna High School graduate who grew up in Atwater, successfully picked the hottest stocks over the 12-week period. Appearing with the other finalists, Weber also won a 10-hour Marquis Jet card, a super-sized copy of which was presented to him during Monday's "Power Lunch.''

The second-prize winner, Debra Lewis of Effingham, Ill., was awarded $200,000, and the third-prize winner, Bette Lockhart of Tuscon, Ariz., was given a $100,000 check.

Weber received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and applied physics from Case Western Reserve University. He returned to CWRU to earn an MBA in finance and international management.

"I had two great professors at Case, Sam Thomas and Paul Laux, who conducted trading simulations as part of their business classes,'' Weber said. "They opened my eyes to this. They explained how you need to connect the dots together to see the bigger financial pictures.''

Weber also is quick to credit the influence of his parents, Gordon and Phyllis Weber, who still live in Atwater.

Married for 14 years, Stephen and Erin Weber live in Lakewood with their two children, Alexander, 6, and Kegan "Kiki,'' 3.

So, what's he going to do with the money?

"Part of it certainly will be set aside to do some real investing, but there are a lot of things more important in life to apply your resources to,'' Weber said.

Any frivolous purchases planned?

"That's kind of already taken care of,'' Weber said. "The absolutely frivolous thing is that, as part of the prize, we get 10 hours of travel on a Marquis Jet. So we have to figure out where to go, which, I know, is a great problem to have.''